Pokemon is a franchise predicated on the creatures it introduces to be likable, loveable, or at the very least interesting. That being said, with almost 1,000 unique Pokemon currently in existence, there are bound to be more than a handful that the majority would consider to be lesser than.
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Whether these creatures are ugly, redundant, or have bad stats, there are plenty of reasons as to why some Pokemon don't measure up to their fellow pocket monsters. This is true all the way through the release of Pokemon Sword & Shield.
Wimpod
It's hard to argue that a Pokemon is useless if it happens to evolve into something greater, but Wimpod is a joke at this point. The tiny Bug and Water-type's most defining characteristic is that it runs away from things. The Pokedex even goes as far as to say it is a coward and scavenges for food when it feels safe. In terms of base stats, it's rather low across the board, with its speed being its only saving grace, which makes sense considering its primary motive is to flee as quickly as possible.
Eiscue
When looking at the base stats for Eiscue it's hard to call it useless considering they're all pretty solid. The real issue here is the motivation behind the design and implementation of this weird Pokemon. It made its debut in the latest mainline entries in the franchise, Pokemon Sword & Shield. The consensus among fans is that it's a poorly designed Pokemon, and rather ugly. There's still hope that it receives an evolutionary form one day, but until that happens it's hard to justify Eiscue's existence.
Dunsparce
What's more useless than untapped potential? In the case of Dunsparce, fans have wanted this Johto region native from the second generation of games to receive either a new regional form or secondary evolution since its inception.
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Known as the Land Snake Pokemon, Dunsparce is a simple Normal-type that sports tiny wings on a simplistic slug-like body. Designers have so much to work with in terms of how they could design an evolution for it, but it's been put on the backburner for decades.
Luvdisc
Two key ingredients in making a Pokemon undesirable are making it a creature that doesn't evolve into or from anything else and pairing that with a bland design. Luvdisc has fought an uphill battle considering it's a Water-type Pokemon that's a solo form. Fish Pokemon tend to be some of the lesser designs with every new generation, and despite Luvdisc resembling a pink heart, it simply looks like a heart with a black dot on it. Is it worse to be useless or forgettable? At the end of the day, Luvdisc might be both.
Wishiwashi
Wishiwashi is a very interesting case study in regards to the idea of creatures being stronger in groups or units. Individually Wishiwashi is a run-of-the-mill fish Pokemon that's simply a Water-type and comes equipped with terrible base stats. In school form, however, multiple Wishiwashi bands together to form the shape of a larger underwater creature. Since it isn't an actual evolution its speed and health stats still stay bottom tier, despite many of its other stats rising to a competitive level.
Feebas
Googling a picture of Feebas might result in some people assuming the ancient-looking fish is simply a dead husk of a Magikarp, and though that is incorrect, it's not too far off. Like Magikarp, Feebas has atrocious base stats that make it virtually unusable in battle. It also happens to evolve into a much more viable and powerful creature when it evolves. The reason it looks the way it does, according to the Pokedex, is a result of evolution as its appearance makes others ignore it, aiding in its survival. It's too ugly to worry about.
Dedenne
In a world where Pikachu didn't exist, Dedenne would be a fine Pokemon. The issue is that it is a blatant clone of the Kanto Electric-type rodent, and its appearance is shockingly similar. One could argue it's more similar to Pikachu than Plusle and Minun from previous generations.
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A key factor in usefulness comes down to redundancy, and Dedenne is possibly the most redundant design in the entirety of the franchise. That's saying something considering there are almost 1,000 different types of Pokemon.
Sunkern
Seeds are symbolically used to represent a new start, a place in which anything is possible. For Sunkern that optimism dies on the vine as it happens to evolve into one of the least impressive secondary evolutionary forms, statistically speaking. On its, Sunkern is no ray of sunshine either, as every one of its base stats comes in at well below average. If Sunkern is ever gifted with a third evolutionary form, things could turn around for the Grass-type known as the Seed Pokemon, but until then it will be considered pretty useless in the grand scheme of things.
Magikarp
It's hard to argue how infamous Magikarp is, solely due to how useless it is as a Pokemon. Early on, though, trainers who fought against its shortcomings were rewarded with a Gyarados. To obtain that impressive leviathan Magikarp needs to be trained to level 20. With the advent of the XP share tool in games it has made this process less of a slog, but the moment Magikarp is thrust into battle it becomes quite clear that it has defied every law of Darwinism and has persevered somehow.
Bibarel
When looking at which Pokemon were more useless than Bidoof, it was hard to look over the creature it evolved into. Bibarel, for all intents and purposes, is a larger and uglier version of Bidoof. Despite all of Bidoof's shortcomings, it at least had some level of ugly cuteness that some real-life dogs have. Bibarel takes the singular redeeming characteristics of it and shreds them to pieces. The last thing anyone wants is a larger and nastier version of something that's already hard to love.
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